The magistrate court in Gulu has granted bail to MP Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine together with 11 0ther suspects including the Arua Municipality MP elect Kassiano Wadri.

Bobi Wine’s release comes after spending two weeks in detention since he was arrested from Arua.

Last week on Thursday Bobi Wine had seen his charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions dropped by the Court Martial, which subsequently set him free only to be rearrested by the police and handed over to the Magistrates Court in Gulu where he was charged with treason.
The court remanded him to a prison in Gulu after being told to reappear today to consider his bail application.

Among those granted bail together with Bobi Wine include the New Arua Municipality MP Kassiano Wadri who was also arrested with Bobi Wine and has been in detention since then. However, Mr. Kassiano has been barred by the court from accessing Arua Municipality for 3 months.

According to his family led by his wife Barbie Itungo, MP Bobi Wine is to be first taken for treatment due to his poor health condition. The MP was driven out of the court premises in an ambulance, which confirmed the weak state of his health.
The MP’s poor health condition has been evident throughout his court trials as he has been moving using crutches and with support from others. The MP is said to have been severely beaten and tortured by the security forces after his arrest in Arua two weeks ago.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges concerning misuse of office read to him by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti, the chairman of the Court Martial. The charges included, failing to protect war material, illegal arming of civilians including one kitatta of bodaboda 2010 and illegal repatriation Rwanda’s dissents.

His lawyer defended him claiming that his rights have been heavily abused by detaining him for over 48 hours before appearing in court which is against the law. However, one of his lawyers thanked the security forces headed by the UPDF for keeping his client with respect during his time in detention.

General Kayihura was arrested and detained by the army in June this year just two months after he was sacked by the president as inspector general of police (IGP) on charges of misuse of office. Since then he has been in detention at Military Police barracks at Makindye in Kampala.

Although Kayihura’s lawyers pleaded that their client be given bail in order to see his family and friends after such a long period in detention, it was denied by the prosecutor on account that the lawyers did not carry a formal bail-asking document and they were rather told to reappear before the same court on 28th this Month. Kayihura remains remanded to Makindye Police barracks up to that date.

Kyadondo East legislator Robert Kyagulanyi commonly known as Bobi Wine has early this Thursday appeared before the court martial in Gulu where he was subsequently told that his charges with the military court had been dropped.

Lt General Andrew Gutti, the chairman for General Court Martial told Bobi Wine that his court no longer hold any charges against him unless he had charges elsewhere. Immediately after being cleared by the court martial, Bobi Wine was rearrested by the police and taken to appear before the Chief Magistrates court in Gulu town.

Upon reaching the magistrates court at Gulu, MP Kyagulanyi appeared before the Chief Magistrate who read to him charges of treason and he was subsequently remanded and told to reappear before the same court on 30th August together with other MPs who also face the same charges.

MP Robert Kyagulanyi has been detained at Makindye military barracks since his arrest on Monday last week and he had been summoned to appear before the court martial in Gulu for the second time to answer charges concerning illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions.

Bobi Wine had been arrested together with other MPs who were also charged with treason when they appeared before the Magistrates Court last week. Their arrest followed some chaotic incidents in Arua in which one of the cars in the President’s convoy was stoned breaking its rear screen window. This happened on the last day of the campaigns for the Arua Municipality Parliamentary By-election in which both the president and Bobi wine had participated to campaign for their candidates.

Since his arrest, there have been numerous protests and riots around the country including in the capital Kampala, Mukono, Mityana, among others. Numerous civilians have been killed and others wounded while many have also been arrested and detained by the police. Among the victims of the incidents include late Yassin Kawuma a former driver of Bobi Wine who was shot dead in Arua from his boss’s car during the chaos in which Bobi Wine was arrested.

Earlier on Wednesday, deputy speaker Jacob Oulanya visited Mr. Kyagulanyi at the Makindye Military Barracks. During his visit, a short clip was released and circulated widely on social media in which Kyagulanyi is seen laughing with the Deputy speaker but with apparent difficulty. Mr. Oulanya in his comments said that he had talked to Hon Kyagulanyi and added that he was in a lot of pain.

In addition to the protests demanding for the release of Bobi Wine, yesterday his fellow artists organized a mass to offer prayers for him and other detainees including those in poor health conditions like Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake who was also severely tortured and currently in a poor health condition while receiving treatment at Lubaga Hospital in Kampala. The Mass was held at Lubaga Catholic Church Cathedral led by Fr. Deogratious Kiibi. Together with Kyagulanyi’s family, various opposition politicians, MPs, Artists and civilians attended the mass in large numbers.

Internationally, the arrest, torture and detention of the MPs has attracted massive criticism coming from Human rights agencies, foreign governments, legislators, musicians and the Ugandans in Diaspora. The US State department voiced concern over the medical condition of detained MP Robert Kyagulanyi stating that they are watching the situation very closely with regards to MP Kyagulanyi after receiving multiple credible reports about his condition.

In contrast, President Museveni had earlier dismissed reports that MP Kyagulanyi had been tortured while in detention claiming that the reports are mere ‘fake news’. The President also added that MP Zaake had escaped and the police is looking for him though the legislator is currently battling for his health in a hospital after severe torture from the security officers who arrested him from Arua.

President Yoweri Museveni and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta are set to grace this year’s inauguration ceremony of Imbalu in Mbale, Eastern Uganda

Imbalu is a circumcision ceremony among the Bamasaba (Bagisu) society, which is rooted, in a revered culture that relishes the rite of passage to manhood. The Inyembe, a knife used to circumcise has been for generations used to separate men from boys.

This periodical cultural ceremony which is filled with fun and horrific moments is one of the most prominent that a Uganda’s cultural Tour has to offer though only a few lucky visitors that may be found on their Uganda Safari during its fateful season can have a chance to enjoy it.

This year’s inauguration ceremony is taking place this Saturday at Mutoto Cultural Grounds in Mbale town and preparations are in high gear ahead of the official launch of the festival.

The two heads of state have already confirmed their attendance as clarified by the coordinator of the celebrations Mr. Mathias Nabutele. The presence of the two presidents makes it unique from the previous ceremonies that have not seen the participation of such dignitaries before.

President Uhuru Kenyatta from Kenya will lead a delegation of Kenyan Bamasaba including Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia and Bukusu to the ceremony at Mutoto. Mutoto is a sacred place where the first Mumasaba (Mugisu) was reportedly circumcised.

The Imbalau ceremony holds a great significance among the Bagisu. It is an age-old tradition, which defines and unites people in the Bugisu region comprised of Mbale, Manafwa, Bulambuli, Sironko and Bududa districts.

The ceremony is hugely embraced and respected by all the people in the region and it is used as the measure to recognize the young men that they have crossed over to manhood. Nobody, regardless of their age can be respected as a true man before they fulfill this ritual.

Imbalu is always held in an even year and usually kicks off in the month of August and its climax in December. It is the most celebrated cultural ceremony across Uganda as it is carried out in all parts of the country where the Bagisu are found. Therefore today there is no need for the boys to go back to their homeland in Bugisu to fulfill this manhood obligation.

During this period huge multitudes of people can be seen in towns and villages in several parts of the country accompanying and dancing together with the candidates of circumcision. The movements are always full of excitement and jubilations, as traditional Bagisu drums are sounded accompanied with their traditional folk songs and dance.

The celebrations and movements around communities usually take around 7 days before the candidates are finally circumcised. During these movements, the candidates are always given different gifts including money, livestock, food among others as a way of congratulating them for reaching this traditional milestone that shows their brevity and also to encourage them to be brave and endure the pain during the circumcision.

The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has already partnered with the Bamasaba Cultural Institution, the main organizers of the ceremony to upgrade Mutoto Cultural Site in a bid to boost tourism by enhancing Uganda Cultural Tours of which the Imbalu ceremony is part. The board also announced that the circumcision fete had been elevated to a carnival and added to Uganda’s tourism products.

Uganda Social Media & Mobile Money Tax Invite Public Outcry
Many Ugandan social media and mobile money users have expressed their discomfort over the new taxes. Millions of Ugandans now have to pay a daily tax of Shs200 to use their popular social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and others, in addition, they have also to incur another 1% charge on all the mobile money transactions they carryout according to the new rules. This has come into effect following a move by the Parliament of Uganda to pass a legislation in late May that introduced a tax on the use of the so-called Over The Top (OTT) Social media platforms offering voice and messaging services and mobile money users as well. The new social media tax translates into about $1.5 a month and $19 a year though majority Ugandans are still living on less than $1 a day.

However, the government says the new taxes will help to boost the country’s prospect of becoming middle income by the year 2020. Government maintains that the aim of the legislation was only to raise revenue for public services. On the contrary, the passage of the law follows President Museveni’s warning early this year that that he was planning to tax social media platforms because they are used to promote “gossip” in the country. This also reminded Ugandans what happened in 2016 when the government closed down social media platforms during the presidential and parliamentary elections when the president was accusing Ugandans of using social media to spread “lies”.

Many human right activists have come out to condemn the move strongly saying that the objective in the passing of the law is to stifle free expression rights of millions of Ugandans who largely depend on these social media platforms to communicate. Other activists pointed out that the president saw online communication as a threat to his 32-year rule. They argue that though the president says it was to stop young people from gossiping but he knows that online organizing has real-life implications for him and his power and his intention is to stifle free speech having known that online organization works.

The new tax of one percent on mobile money transactions has also been heavily criticized and condemned. Due to low incomes and limited knowledge about banking, many Ugandans have little access to formal banking services hence they have been relying on telecom company services to store and transfer money electrically. Statistically, out of the 40 million population, only 5 million Ugandans use banking services countrywide and the rest use mobile money services.

However from the government perspective, the minister for information technology and communication Frank Tumwebaze defended the move to impose the taxes saying that the revenue collected would be used to improve Internet services. He argues that if other essentials like water are taxed then why not social media? And concludes that the tax is meant to improve connectivity.

Various NGOs have also cautioned that the measure will punish people with low income, students and small online businesses without bringing in the expected revenue. Oxfam Uganda advised that the government has other avenues to resort to in order to raise more money. These include lifting tax breaks from big businesses, tightening laws and closing all loopholes to stop tax avoidance. They also warned that the tax is going to result into fewer people being able to share their views on many important issues.

Many social media users have vowed not to pay the tax with majority resorting to use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in order to access online services though the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has threatened to block such networks to ensure that the tax is paid.